That's not how you use a witch!

Chapter 73 Three people and one blacksmith shop

At the same time, in the rebel command tent on the north bank of the Meto River, Anthony and Manstein were discussing the upcoming attack in front of a sand table.

They didn't have satellite-level high-precision maps like those in Thornlands, but with the help of local guides, such a sand table was sufficient for use in war.

"My lord, the resistance in the western border has exceeded our expectations. According to the original plan, we shouldn't have lost so many troops."

Anthony frowned slightly. "We've been holding out in Rainbow Territory for too long. Even if the Western Frontier Army retreats to Frost Territory, we've lost our advantage in field raids and will have to fight sieges from now on. We're deep behind enemy lines, and attrition warfare isn't our strength."

"It's alright. The Duke's power is already gone. Given the cowardly nature of those Western barbarians, they will only watch passively and will not dare to declare war on us."

Manstein said, "The only one we should be wary of is the Thorn Territory, but as things stand, they are the exact opposite of us—good at defending cities but not at open-field battles. If Ronan dares to get involved, our Northern Cavalry will make sure he dies a horrible death."

Anthony nodded in agreement.

He understood that Gorman and he were two extremes. The former valued morale and combat power and was prone to impulsiveness and rashness; while he valued planning and strategy and was prone to being too conservative. Manstein, on the other hand, was both meticulous and decisive and made almost perfect decisions every time.

Their ability to sweep across the northern borders and advance triumphantly westward was inseparable from the marshal's accurate judgment.

"By the way, I heard the camp was overrun yesterday?"

Manstein glanced at Anthony. "While the prolonged siege of Rainbow Territory is certainly affecting morale, it doesn't have to be this serious, does it?"

Anthony nodded: "It was the witch 'Plague'—she overheard officers talking about her, believing her magic that allowed the dead to continue fighting was a symbol of evil, and thus she got into an argument with one of the officers. The argument escalated, and eventually other witches got involved, and they almost came to blows."

"Listen, those witches are our key to conquering territories; at least for now, they still have value to us. Therefore, we must prioritize appeasement and not offend them. Also, we must strictly prevent those witches from contacting each other. If they discover that we are treating them differently, it will definitely lead to a situation far more serious than today."

Manstein said slowly, "Execute that officer. Then go there yourself and tell each witch this news, and apologize to them. Also, increase the number of people monitoring them, and don't let them move freely. If they have any trivial requests, try to fulfill them."

"clear!"

·

Thorn Collar.

"Oh my god..."

After witnessing Li Yan unleash a raging inferno that engulfed Medallion and roasted her for hours, Scarlett couldn't help but look at Ronan:

"Ronan, are you going to roast Little Mel alive? Say something!"

Shh, it'll be almost done.

"What do you mean 'almost'? Is it almost done? How well-done are you cooking it?"

"Go! Go! Go."

Ronan, ignoring this disgraceful rogue, calculated that the time was almost up and nodded, "That's enough, Miss Li Yan, turn off the fire!"

"Alright!"

With a snap of Li Yan's fingers, the towering pillar of fire came to an abrupt halt.

The man in the alloy armor stood there, his armor plates gleaming with a texture completely different from before under the moonlight.

With Haiyue's help, Meidel then peeled off and cooled some of the alloy armor plates.

Ronan conducted various experiments based on this: compared with the original version, the alloy, after being calcined at a specific temperature by the glass flame, showed a significant improvement in both strength and toughness, far surpassing the steel swords made of the highest-grade material previously used by Meadow.

In his memory, the parameters of these alloys were already similar to those of aerospace-grade metals from his previous life!

And Madale's subsequent reaction confirmed his earlier guess: this time, she created an identical alloy on her own without the help of Li Yan.

This means that what affects her abilities is not the parameters of the metal itself, but her understanding of the metal.

Terra's metallurgical technology is so primitive that even steel is a scarce commodity. And as a native Terran, Maddale's magical abilities are the pinnacle of Terran's power.

She can create steel comparable to the material of the swords of the Royal Knights, but she can't create some cheap alloys that are readily available in modern times.

Li Yan's "Crimson Grip" compensated for the lack of high-quality blast furnaces in this era, making many metals that were originally impossible to come into existence possible. Although Ronan only had a superficial understanding of metallurgy, fortunately, Madale had a very keen sense of metals, and even by exhaustive search, she was able to discover many useful alloys.

"How amazing... I never imagined that metals could be combined like this."

Madonna blinked thoughtfully. "Ronan, you said that alloys made of two different metals have different properties. Could we reverse this process and separate the single metal we want from the alloy?"

"Of course! For example, the militia's armor-piercing arrows are made of manganese steel alloy, and currently, craftsmen indirectly produce manganese steel using manganese-containing ore. If we could separate the manganese metal, we could use it more freely in various fields such as military and civilian industries..."

Ronan spoke eloquently for a while, until he saw Meidel's eager gaze, then he smiled sheepishly, "However, I only know the basics, and I'm afraid I can't help you with the specifics of how to do it."

"This is what you call only knowing the basics? Those craftsmen who have worked their whole lives can just throw themselves into the river and commit suicide."

Scarlett grinned. "Excessive modesty is just showing off."

Maddie responded earnestly, "It's okay, everyone has strengths and weaknesses. I'll work hard with you."

Haiyue sighed silently: "So, we've formed a group to start a blacksmith shop?"

Li Yan: "When did you start to have the illusion that it isn't true~"

Haiyue: "Get away from me."

Of course, given the urgency of the current war situation, Ronan prioritized preparations and production. Exploring metallurgy, compared to the former, was like a dessert after a meal—it shouldn't overshadow the main event.

"By the way, why haven't I seen Dorothy go out?"

As if remembering something, Ronan asked curiously, "It's been two days, hasn't it? Has she left the room?"

"Perhaps His Majesty the Duke's chief witch wouldn't get along with us country bumpkins?"

Scarlett, true to her family's sharp tongue, said, "You might not know this, but witches are also divided into different ranks. When I was serving in the army, the witches in the great territories and the capital never treated me like a sister. They even thought that the weak deserved to be exploited, and the strong earned their respect through their own strength."

Li Yan and Hai Yue stated that while such witches are a minority, they do exist. They are deeply brainwashed by the Church and would rather die than accept the aid of the Witch's Eye.

"That shouldn't be the case..."

Ronan raised an eyebrow.

Although he wasn't very familiar with Dorothy, based on his experience working at the grassroots level in his previous life, she didn't seem like that kind of person to him.

"Fine, I'll go check it out myself."

Upon hearing this, Meidel immediately put down the alloy she was holding.

"I'll go with you."

·

·